Vehicle Dispatch Device and Non-Transitory Computer-Readable Recording Medium

This Nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 on Patent Application No. 2024-065574 filed in Japan on Apr. 15, 2024, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle dispatch device and a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique according to which, upon reception of a request for ride sharing, a compatibility score which measures a compatibility between a passenger and a driver is calculated and a driver assigned to the passenger is selected on the basis of the compatibility score.

Specification of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0089605

In the technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1, a risk of motion sickness is not taken into adequate consideration.

An aspect of the present disclosure has an object to provide a vehicle dispatch service which takes motion sickness into consideration.

In order to attain the above object, a vehicle dispatch service in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure is a vehicle dispatch device which provides a vehicle dispatch service for assigning, to a user, a driver who drives a vehicle, the vehicle dispatch device including: a first obtaining section configured to obtain first evaluation values pertaining to the driver of the vehicle which is present within a predetermined distance from a riding point where the user gets on the vehicle, the first evaluation values measuring driving skill in terms of a respective plurality of driving items capable of inducing motion sickness; a second obtaining section configured to obtain second evaluation values measuring how easily the user gets motion sickness due to the respective plurality of driving items; a third obtaining section configured to obtain, on a basis of the first evaluation values and the second evaluation values, third evaluation values measuring how easily the user gets motion sickness due to driver's driving; and a person-in-charge determining section configured to determine, on a basis of the third evaluation values, the driver to be assigned to the user.

The vehicle dispatch device in accordance with each aspect of the present disclosure may be realized by a computer. In this case, the present disclosure encompasses: a program for causing a computer to operate as each of the sections (software elements) included in the vehicle dispatch device so that the vehicle dispatch device is realized by the computer; and a computer-readable recording medium in which the program is stored.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to realize a vehicle dispatch service which takes motion sickness into consideration.

is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a vehicle dispatch system which uses a vehicle dispatch device in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The vehicle dispatch systemshown inincludes a vehicle dispatch device, an input device, and a vehicle. The vehicle dispatch deviceis, for example, a server which provides a vehicle dispatch service, and is connected to a network. The networkis, for example, a wireless communication network, an Internet network, a telephone line network, or the like.

The vehicle dispatch service includes a taxi dispatch service and a ride sharing service. The ride sharing service is a service which supports, to an extent permitted by a law such as the road transport law, ride sharing allowing a user who wishes to travel to the same destination as a driver of a vehicleto ride the vehicle.

The input deviceis an information terminal which can use the vehicle dispatch service provided by the vehicle dispatch deviceand which accepts given input operation from a user who receives the vehicle dispatch service. For example, the input deviceis a smartphone which can execute an application, an add-on, and/or the like for using the vehicle dispatch service and which includes a display section for displaying an operation screen and an input section such as a touch panel. The input devicemay obtain a current position of the input deviceon the basis of, e.g., a signal received from a GPS satellite. The input deviceis connected to the network, and transmits information such as information input by the user and/or information pertaining to the current position to the vehicle dispatch devicevia the network. The input devicemay be a dedicated input terminal for utilizing a vehicle dispatch service provided to, e.g., a taxi stand and/or a bus stop.

The vehicleis a vehicle which is a subject to be assigned to the user in the vehicle dispatch service provided by the vehicle dispatch device. Examples of the vehicleinclude a taxi and a shared bus. The vehicleis connected to the networkvia a vehicle communication network such as controller area network (CAN).

In the vehicle dispatch device, information pertaining to the driver of the vehicleis stored. The information pertaining to the driver includes information pertaining driving skill of the driver. The information pertaining to the driving skill includes pieces of information each measuring a possibility of inducing motion sickness due to a respective one of driving items which can induce motion sickness. Examples of the driving skills include acceleration and deceleration during straight driving, acceleration and deceleration during curving, and start and stop of the vehicle. For example, a driver who is likely to cause so-called hard braking, which is braking causing the vehicleto be shaken in a pitch direction at an acceleration of not less than a given threshold when the vehiclestops, is evaluated as having a high possibility of inducing motion sickness by stopping operation.

is a view illustrating an example of a configuration of a vehicle dispatch device in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in, the vehicle dispatch deviceincludes a control section, a storage section, and a communication section.

The control sectionincludes, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) and a main storage device. The storage sectionincludes, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) and/or a solid state drive (SSD). In the storage section, a program for executing the control sectionis stored. The communication sectionis connected to the network, and communicates with the input deviceand the vehiclevia the network. Further, in the storage section, information that the control sectionhas obtained via the communication sectionis stored. Explanation of how the control sectionobtains information will be given later.

The control sectionexecutes the program stored in the storage section, so as to function as a first obtaining section, a second obtaining section, a third obtaining section, a person-in-charge determining section, an accepting section, a fourth obtaining section, a fifth obtaining section, and an updating section.

The first obtaining sectionobtains first evaluation values pertaining to a driver of the vehiclewhich is present within a predetermined distance from a riding point where a user gets on the vehicle, the first evaluation values measuring driving skill in terms of the respective plurality of driving items which can induce motion sickness. The plurality of driving items which can induce motion sickness include, for example, acceleration and deceleration during straight driving, acceleration and deceleration during curving, and start and stop of the vehicle. A higher first evaluation value indicates a higher possibility of inducing motion sickness.

The riding point refers to (a) a current position of the input deviceor (b) a position at which the user wishes to ride the vehicle and which is input via the input device. In a case where the input deviceis a portable information terminal, the current position of the input devicemay be obtained, for example, on the basis of a signal received from a GPS satellite and/or the like. In a case where the input deviceis an information terminal provided in a given riding spot, the first obtaining sectionmay obtain, as the riding point, a position at which the input deviceis provided.

The first evaluation values can be obtained by any method. For example, the first obtaining sectionmay obtain, from the storage section, evaluation values pertaining to driving of the vehiclecarried out by the driver in the past; then, the first obtaining sectionmay obtain, as a first evaluation value for each of the driving items, an average value, a median value, or a mode value of the evaluation values.

The second obtaining sectionobtains second evaluation values measuring how easily the user gets motion sickness due to the respective plurality of driving items which can induce motion sickness. The second evaluation values for each user are stored in the storage section. The driving items for which the second obtaining sectionobtains the second evaluation values include at least a driving item for which the first obtaining sectionobtains the first evaluation value. A higher second evaluation value indicates that the user gets motion sickness more easily due to the driving item.

The third obtaining sectionobtains, on the basis of the first evaluation values obtained by the first obtaining sectionand the second evaluation values obtained by the second obtaining section, third evaluation values measuring how easily the user gets motion sickness due to driver's driving. For example, the third obtaining sectionobtains each of the third evaluation values for the respective plurality of driving items which can induce motion sickness, on the basis of a product of a corresponding one of the first evaluation values of the driver and a corresponding one of the second evaluation values of the user. An example of a method for calculating the third evaluation value is expressed by Formula (1).

A higher third evaluation value indicates that the user gets motion sickness more easily due to the driver's driving. For example, in a case of a combination of (a) a driver who is highly likely to cause hard braking and (b) a user who is likely to get motion sickness easily due to hard braking, a first evaluation value and a second evaluation value for a driving item “stopping” are both high, and accordingly a third evaluation value therefor becomes high, too.

In Formula (1), the correction value is a numerical value for correcting a product of the first evaluation value of the driver and the second evaluation value of the user. Different driving items may have different correction values. Alternatively, the plurality of driving items may have a common correction value.

The correction value may be determined on the basis of one or more parameters. The parameter(s) for determining the correction value include(s) at least a destination of the user, and is/are determined in consideration of a way in which the user spends time during traveling, a physical condition of the user, and a feature of the vehicle. For example, the correction value is calculated according to Formula (2).

In Formula (2), wis a parameter relating to a destination of the user. For example, wincreases as the destination of the user or a traveling route desired by the user separates farther from a route along which the vehicleis scheduled to travel.

wis a parameter relating to a way in which the user spends time during traveling. For example, wtakes a high value, in a case where the user carries out a task which is likely to cause motion sickness, e.g., reading a book in the vehicle. Meanwhile, wdecreases, in a case where the vehiclehas equipment desired by the user. The equipment can be, for example, a ventilation system providing an effect of improving the user's motion sickness.

wis a parameter relating to a physical condition of the user. For example, wvaries depending of user's fatigue, stress, sleepiness, disease, and/or the like. wtakes a high value, in a case where the user is in a bad physical condition.

wis a parameter relating to a feature of the vehicle. For example, wvaries depending on an air conditioning setting, a smell in the cabin, a size of field of view, rocking, vibration, seat arrangement, and noise of the vehicle. For example, wincreases as the smell in the cabin of the vehiclebecomes stronger.

a, a, a, and aare weighting factors for the parameters w, w, w, and w, and are personalized for each user. The values of a, a, a, and afor each user are stored in the storage section. For a user who uses the vehicle dispatch service for the first time, predetermined initial values are used as the values of a, a, a, and a.

The person-in-charge determining sectiondetermines, on the basis of the third evaluation values, a driver to be assigned to the user. That is, the person-in-charge determining sectiondetermines, on the basis of the third evaluation values, a driver who is in charge of conveyance of the user. An example of the process carried out by the person-in-charge determining sectionwill be described later.

The accepting sectionaccepts information which includes at least information pertaining to the destination of the user and which is used to obtain third evaluation values.is a view used for explanation of a process carried out by the accepting section.illustrates an example of an input operation screen displayed on the display section of the input devicein order to receive the vehicle dispatch service provided. The input operation screen shown inincludes a client column, a riding point column, a destination column, a physical condition column, a setting column, and a confirm button.

The accepting sectionaccepts, via the client column, input of information for identifying a user who gives a request for vehicle dispatch. The second obtaining sectionobtains, on the basis of the information input into the client column, second evaluation values and weighting factors a, a, a, and afrom the storage section.

The accepting sectionaccepts, via the riding point column, input of a riding point desired by the user. On the basis of the information input into the accepting section, the first obtaining sectionobtains, from the storage section, first evaluation values of a driver who is a candidate for a driver assigned to the user.

The accepting sectionaccepts, via the destination columnand the physical condition column, input of information pertaining to the destination of the user and information pertaining to the physical condition of the user. The control sectioncalculates, on the basis of the information that the user has input into the destination column, a value of the parameter wrelating to the destination of the user. The control sectioncalculates, on the basis of the information that the user has input into the physical condition column, a value of the parameter wrelating to the physical condition of the user. The input column into which the user inputs information in order to determine values of the parameters w, w, w, and wis not limited to the destination columnor the physical condition column. For example, an additional column into which the user can input information pertaining to the way in which the user spends time during traveling may be present.

Via the setting column, the accepting sectiondetermines whether to take motion sickness into consideration in assigning a driver to the user. While the user is inputting, via the setting column, information indicating that the user wishes to take motion sickness into consideration, the person-in-charge determining sectiondetermines a driver assigned to the user on the basis of the third evaluation values. The user may input, into the setting column, information indicating that motion sickness is not taken into consideration in assigning the driver to the user. In the case where motion sickness is not taken into consideration, the person-in-charge determining sectionmay determine the driver assigned to the use on the basis of the riding point and the destination, for example.

The fourth obtaining sectionshown inobtains information pertaining to a feature of the vehicledriven by the driver. For example, a value of the parameter wis determined on the basis of the information obtained by the fourth obtaining section. For an air conditioning setting, a smell in the cabin, rocking, vibration, and noise of the vehicle, the fourth obtaining sectionmay obtain information from the input deviceor a temperature sensor, an odor sensor, an acceleration sensor, and a sound collecting device provided to the vehicle, for example. For a size of field of view and seat arrangement, the fourth obtaining sectionmay obtain, from the storage section, information registered by the driver in advance.

is a view used for explanation of a process carried out by the person-in-charge determining section shown in. For example, the screen shown inis an example of a person-in-charge determining screen displayed in response to operation for selecting the confirm buttonshown in. In the example shown in, the person-in-charge determining screen indicates a driver list, a cursor, a confirm button, and a radar chart.

The driver listindicates drivers on the basis of the third evaluation values obtained by the third obtaining section. For example, a sum total of third evaluation values of all the driving items is calculated for each of the drivers; then, the driver listindicates the drivers in an ascending order of the sum total of the third evaluation values. The driver listindicates, for the respective drivers, predicted time periods taken to arrive at destinations.

The radar chartindicates, for a combination of the user and a driver B pointed by the cursor, third evaluation values for the respective driving items. In the radar chartshown in, the third evaluation values, each being based on a product of a respective first evaluation value of the driver B and a respective second evaluation value of the user, are plotted for the respective driving items, i.e., for acceleration during straight driving, deceleration during straight driving, acceleration during curving, deceleration during curving, start, and stop. As a polygon formed by connecting six points plotted on the radar charthas a smaller area, a compatibility between the driver and the driver in terms of motion sickness is better. In response to user selection of the confirm button, the person-in-charge determining sectiondetermines, as the driver assigned to the user, the driver pointed by the cursor.

After the driver determined by the person-in-charge determining sectioncompletes conveyance of the user, the fifth obtaining sectioninobtains information pertaining to driving having been carried out by the driver and motion sickness of the user. The updating sectionupdates, on the basis of the information obtained by the fifth obtaining sectionand the third evaluation values, the first evaluation values of the driver determined by the person-in-charge determining section, the second evaluation values of the user, and the weighting factors a, a, a, and apertaining to the user.

is a view used for explanation of a process carried out by the fifth obtaining section and the updating section. The input screen shown inindicates: a radar chartindicative of evaluation values pertaining to driving having been carried out by the driver determined by the person-in-charge determining section; an input columninto which a level (intensity) of motion sickness bothering the user can be input; and a confirm button. The input columnshown incan accept an input in three levels, for example, an input of “none”, “slightly bothered”, and “bothered”. In a case where the user inputs “none” into the input column, the level (intensity) of motion sickness of the user is 0 (zero), for example. In a case where the user inputs “slightly bothered” into the input column, the level (intensity) of motion sickness of the user is three, for example. In a case where the user inputs “bothered” into the input column, the level (intensity) of motion sickness of the user is five, for example. The input columnmay be in (a) a format that allows a user to input a numerical value indicative of a level (intensity) for motion sickness bothering the user or (b) a format that allows a user to reply to a questionnaire about motion sickness and converts an intensity of motion sickness bothering the user into a numerical form on the basis of a result of the reply. In response to user operation of selecting the confirm button, the updating sectionstarts the process.

For example, the updating sectionstores, in the storage section, evaluation values pertaining to driving having been carried out by the driver B determined by the person-in-charge determining section; then, in consideration of the evaluation values thus newly stored, the updating sectionrecalculates average values, median values, or mode values of the evaluation values in terms of the respective driving items, and updates the first evaluation values. The updating sectionmay update the first evaluation values in consideration of the third evaluation values obtained by the third obtaining section. For example, an evaluation value newly stored in order to recalculate a first evaluation value may be multiplied by a weighting factor for the third evaluation value.

The updating sectionupdates a second evaluation value, for example, on the basis of a corresponding one of the third evaluation values obtained by the third obtaining sectionand content of an input made into the input column. For example, in a case where a difference between (a) a level of motion sickness corresponding to the content of the input made into the input columnand (b) a level corresponding to the third evaluation value is not less than a predetermined value, the updating sectionupdates the second evaluation value. As the level corresponding to the third evaluation value, the value of the third evaluation value may be used as it is. Alternatively, as the level corresponding to the third evaluation value, a level obtained by converting the value of the third evaluation value according to a given function may be used.

The updating sectionupdates the weighting factors a, a, a, and apertaining to the user by, for example, supervised learning that uses, as training data, a combination of (a) the content of the input made into the input columnand (b) information such as information having been input into the destination columnand the physical condition columnas well as information obtained from various sensors of the vehiclewhen a request for vehicle dispatch is given. The updating sectionmay update the weighting factors a, a, a, and apertaining to the user in consideration of the third evaluation values obtained by the third obtaining section. For example, the third evaluation values may be included in the training data.

As discussed above, the vehicle dispatch devicein accordance with the present embodiment can provide the following effects.

The vehicle dispatch deviceis a server for providing the vehicle dispatch service assigning, to a user, a driver who drives the vehicle. The vehicle dispatch deviceincludes the first obtaining section, the second obtaining section, the third obtaining section, and the person-in-charge determining section. The first obtaining sectionobtains first evaluation values pertaining to the driver of the vehiclewhich is present within a predetermined distance from a riding point where the user gets on the vehicle, the first evaluation values measuring driving skill in terms of the respective plurality of driving items which can induce motion sickness. The second obtaining sectionobtains second evaluation values measuring how easily the user gets motion sickness due to the respective plurality of driving items. The third obtaining sectionobtains, on the basis of the first evaluation values and the second evaluation values, third evaluation values measuring how easily the user gets motion sickness due to driver's driving. The person-in-charge determining sectiondetermines, on the basis of the third evaluation values, a driver to be assigned to the user. With the above configuration, it is possible to realize a vehicle dispatch service that takes motion sickness into consideration.